Fire-escape.



W. P. HUFFMAN & D. L. FRY.

FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION PILED.J'UNE 28, 1907.

Patented Sept, 29, 1908.

' ZZZ A TTOR/VE Y5 UNITEE OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. HUFFMAN A D DANIEL LL FRY, oFnIoKoRY, NORTH CAROLINA.

I FIRE-ESCAPE.

Application filed June 28, 1907. SerialNo. 381,317.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that-we, .WILLIAM P. HUFF- MAN and DANIEL L. FRY, citizensof the This invention has relation to fire escapes and it consists inthe novel construction and arrangement of itsparts as hereinafter shownand described. i

The object of the invention is .to provide a fire escape of simple andchea construction which may be easily and rea ily applied to anddetached from the sill of a window frame or the mullion of a sash orother means of support and when so secured may be safely and quicklyused as a means of descent from a window or other elevated points.

The fire escape consists primarily of a cable having an engaging hook. Aslidable handle piece is mounted upon the cable which is tor-- tuouslyarranged through the same. The said handle iece is provided in one endwith an adjustable clamping mechanism which is ada ted to regulate thefrictional contact estab ished between the handle piece and the cable.The handle piece is also rovided with a lever which may be forcedaterally against the cable with more or less stretch thereby augmentingor diminishing the friction between the handle iece and the cable. Thesaid lever is provlded with a screw mechanism which is adapted to engagethe body of the handle piece, thereby, affording a mechanism means forpositively holding the lever in contact with the cable. A dependingstirrup is attached to the handle piece and a thigh band is attached tosaid stirrup.

In the accompanying drawing :Figure 1 is a perspective view of the fireescaple. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of t e same, and Fig. 3is a side elevation of the u per portion of the handle piece with theerrule in section. Y j j The fire escape consists ofthe cable'l to oneend of which is attached a hook 2. Said hook is adapted to engage theedge of awindow sill or the mullion of asash or other fixed object,thereby, aflt'ording a means of attachment for the cable to a suitablesupport. The handle piece 3 is slidably mounted u on the cable 1. l Theupper end of said han le piece is bifurcated as at 4' andthe clampingjaws 5 are located in said bifurca- Specificationd Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

tions. The iower ends of the jaws 5 are pro 'videdwith the lugs 6 whichfit in the recesses 7 whereby, longitudinal movement of the said jawswith relation to the handle piece 3 is prevented. The upper end of thehandle piece 3 is exteriorly threaded as at 8 and the ferrule 9 engagessaid thread andpasses around the jaws 5. The upper extremity of theferrule 9 is reducedjin interior transverse dimension and consequentlywhen the said reduced portion is moved toward the ends of theajaws thesaid jaws are forced into frictional contact with the cable 1. Thehandle piece 3 is provided with'a longitudinal bore 10 and atintermediate points with the lateralbores 11 which enter the bore 10.The flanges 12 are located upon the outer side of the handle piece 3andreceive between them the bores 11. The cam lever 13 is fulcrumedbetween the flanges 12, and the cam end of said lever engages the sideof the cable 1. The screw 14 asses transversely through the lever 13 andis adapted to en gage a threaded perforation provided in the handlepiece 3. The cable 1 passes through the end portions of the bore 10 andthrough the bores 11 and consequently have sections lying between theflanges 12 and directly against the side of the lever 13. The stirrup 15de ends from the handle piece 3 and'is provi ed with a ring 16 to whichis attached one end of a thigh band 17. The opposite end of the said thih band is provided with a snap hook 18 whic is adapted to engage thering 16. 7

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a fire escape withnovel arrangement of parts is rovided and that when in use the frictionbetween the handle piece and the cable may be augmented or divrninishedas desired by manipulating the ferrule 9 and the lever 13. In using thefire escape a person inserts one foot in the stirrup 15 and passes theband 17 around the opposite thigh and engages the hook 18 with the ring16, thus, the handle piece is positioned within convenient reach and thesaid ferrule and lever may be manipulated during the course of adescent.

The fire escape is provided with a body band 19 which is provided at itsends with the snap hooks 20 adapted to enga e the eyes21 upon thehandlev piece 3. Sai band is adapted to be passed around the body of oneusing the escape to make a descent.

The body band is desirable at all times as is also the thigh band 17 butthe stirrup 15 may be dispensed with if desired. The spe cificarrangement of the bands and stirrup may be altered or changed in minorrespects without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secureby Letters- Patent is A fire escape comprising a handle piece having atortuous channel therethrou h, a cable slidably located in said channel,aiever pivoted to the handle piece and adapted to engage the cable atthe distorted portions of said channel, clamping jaws mounted upon theend of the handle piece at opposite sides of the cable and a ferrulescrew threaded upon the end of the handle piece and surrounding theclamping jaws and adapted to force the jaws into frictional contact with20 the said cable whereby the movement of the same therethrough may begoverned.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

YVILLIAM P. HUFFMAN. DANIEL L. FRY. Witnesses:

JOHN W. BLAoKwrLDER, D. E. TI-IITENER.

